(a) To provide for the purposes of general municipal operations, capital improvements, maintenance and repair of equipment, streets and other physical properties, purchase of new equipment, and the payment of principal and interest on bonds issued by the city, an excise tax of three percent (3%) is hereby levied on transactions by which lodging by a hotel or transient accommodations is or is to be furnished to transient guests, pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5739.08(A) and furthermore, an additional excise tax of three percent (3%) is hereby levied on transactions by which lodging by a hotel or transient accommodation is or is to be furnished to transient guests pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5739.08(B). Purchase of a room or rooms by a transient guest through an accommodations remarketer is a transaction by which a hotel or transient accommodation is to be furnished to transient guests and is subject to tax at the price paid by the transient guest to the accommodations remarketer.
(b) Although the above levies are separate and distinct for purposes of determining distribution, the combined amounts of six percent (6%) are hereby referred to as the "Hotel/Motel Excise Taxes".
(c) The tax applies and is collectible at the time the lodging is furnished regardless of the time when the price is paid. The tax does not apply to lodging furnished to exempted entities. Lodging shall be considered to be furnished to an exempted entity only if the lodging is purchased by an agent of the exempted entity and directly purchased with the exempted entity's funds. For purposes of this section, lodging purchased with a credit card on which the exempted entity is the primary accountholder shall be considered to have been directly purchased with the exempted entity's funds.
(d) For the purpose of the proper administration of this chapter, and to prevent the evasion of the tax it is presumed that all transactions for lodging furnished by hotels or transient accommodations in the city to transient guests are subject to tax until the contrary is established by the transient guest.
(e) All revenues generated by this excise tax will be distributed as follows:
(1) The entire excise tax collected pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5739.08(A) shall be deposited into the general fund.
(2) The additional excise tax collected pursuant to Ohio R.C. 5739.08(B) to be distributed as follows: fifty percent (50%) shall be deposited into the Johnstown Visitors' Bureau Fund, which is hereby created, and which shall be spent solely to make contributions to convention and visitors' bureaus operating within Licking County as directed by city council. The remaining fifty percent (50%) shall be deposited into the general fund.
(Ord. 50-2021. Passed 12-14-21.)